Bedside Understanding
by Rivenchu
Summary: **NOTE: Last and final chapter is up!** This has a unusual semi-rare couple but read to find out who. It starts with some one being very sick… and then off to a scary, scary, very scary forest...
1. Learning and Understanding

Diclaimer: I do not own the Slayers nor will I probably ever (even if I wish otherwise and make it a life long goal of mine).

Author's Notes: I will probably agree with you if you think this bites as a romance fanfiction but review anyway PLEASE *goes down on knees and begs*!!! Flames will burn my self confidence level to nothing what so ever so please try to refrain from flames except if you will curl up and die unless you say so. Don't get offended because none was intended in that remark. {}These will be my comments in the story, don't worry I won't use them much. This probably won't seem romantic at first but it will towards the end or next chapter definitely the trust me. (So much for my goal of a short AN *shrugs and grins*) ^_^; 

~ ~ ~ (I've got to get squgglies in some how :P)

He didn't feel well and hadn't all week, yet he knew he couldn't leave Lina and the others. After all he was ordered to keep a close eye on them and he couldn't disobey orders. Of course he could hide that he wasn't feeling well but it was getting harder to do with each day that passed. So instead he just walked at the back of the group watching and listening.

"Whooooo hoooooo!!! We're almost to Clilke, the next city! We'll get there tomorrow and get some real food, soft beds, and hot baths!" yelled Lina as she walked on the road.

"Miss Lina its getting late don't you think we should set up camp now"? asked Amelia. 

"That place looks good for the night," said Zelgadis pointing to a small clearing just off the roadside. "And I hear water over there, it may be a small stream."

Everyone then went into the clearing and set up camp, had dinner, you know the usual routine. Nearly everyone went to bed except Amelia who had first watch.

'Why do I get first watch' she thought as she looked around the campsite. On the ground between her feet was a black feather that had a sheen on one side. 'What a pretty feather' she thought as she picked it up and put it in her pouch. 

Awhile later she was staring at the fire as if in a trance, her eyes started to close. 'No I will not fall asleep that is wrong I will stay awake in the name of justice' she thought determinedly as she stood up. She decided not to look at the fire otherwise it would put her to sleep.

She looked to the stars 'They are so beautiful.' She then looked at her friends as the slept. Lina was sprawled out as she tossed and turned Gourry was no different. Filia was curled up with her tail wrapped around her like a cat in a sense. Zelgadis leaned against a tree a slight distance away from the group. Xellos well looked like he normally did. 

'Maybe I can talk to Xellos so I won't fall asleep,' she thought. 'After all mazukos don't sleep.'

"Mister Xellos" whispered Amelia as she sat back down near the fire.

"Yes Amelia?" replied Xellos as he looked up at her.

Amelia thought he looked a little pale but she ignored it. " you've been acting differently lately, like you haven't been causing trouble for one thing. Hey! Does that mean you have decided to join the cause of justice, truth, and love?!"

Xellos shuddered at the last remark 'I must be getting weaker,' he thought. "No, Amelia."

"You don't camp out with us normally, but lately you have been. Why?"

"Well Amelia, that's a secret."

Amelia sighed "Why can't you tell us answers when we want Mr. Xellos? Wait, don't even answer that, it's a secret right?"

"Correct" replied Xellos with his usual cheery expression.

"Mmmmm..."said as she stretched. 'My watch is almost over it's time to wake up Gourry now.' she thought as she stood up. She went over Gourry woke him up and then prepared to go to bed. 'It must be my imagination that Mr. Xellos is acting strangely, after all Miss Lina would have noticed.' A minute later she was sleeping and thought nothing more of it.

As Gourry took the next shift as lookout Xellos thought 'Amelia seems to have noticed but none of the others are aware yet, that's good.' He shook his head 'My head feels sort of fuzzy.' He looked up at the sky for the rest of the night.

~ ~ ~ ( ^_^ squigglies)

The next day the group walked along quickly hoping to get to the next city before lunch time.

Xellos was lagging behind the others though. 'Great,' he thought sarcastically as he started to lean heavily on his staff. His head hadn't cleared up at all and he was rapidly feeling even worse. It was getting hard to see clearly 'I'll have to open my eyes soon if I want to see,' he thought. He was also wondering how hot it was outside because he was beginning to sweat. The ground also seemed to want him to fall as it shifted every so often. 

'I wonder what kind of food they have there,' thought Amelia as she walked just behind the others. She glanced at her friends. 'Hey Xellos looks even worse then he did last night.' When he looked at her she looked away quickly.

'Amelia knows something is wrong with me, I'm sure of it.' Then world as he saw it seemed to swirl and move. 'This isn't good, I think I need to sit down' he thought as he fell to his knees and opened his eyes.

Amelia heard the soft thump sound and turned around to see Xellos kneeling. She also noticed that his eyes were open and unfocused.

"There's Clilke!" yelled Lina as she pointed to the close city. 

"Miss Lina!" shouted Amelia as she ran up to Lina. "Something's wrong with Xellos!"

"He's a mazuko what else could be wrong with him other then that?" asked Filia.

"Look at him!" yelled Amelia as she pointed at Xellos. When they saw him they were inclined to believe Amelia. They rushed over to him.

"He could be faking just to make us worry," said Filia.

Xellos felt a hand on his forehead and heard a voice he couldn't make out. It was really getting hard to focus or even just to stay awake. He knew that he was losing this battle and that he was going to pass out any second. 

Amelia gasped "He's really burning up Miss Lina. We need to get him to the city so he can rest." Xellos then collapsed onto Amelia. "Ahhhhh!!" yelled Amelia yelled in surprise. 

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Lina said "Well looks like we can still get to Clilke before noon. Zel, Gourry you can carry Xellos."

"Hold it why me?" asked Zelgadis. "Why can't Filia carry him?" When he got deadly stares from Lina and Filia he changed his mind.

As Gourry and Zelgadis lifted Xellos, Amelia picked up Xellos's staff. "I'll carry his staff," she announced as they continued on into the city.

~ ~ ~ ( no comment necessary for squigglies :)

The group (minus Xellos) is seen sitting around a table eating. They are discussing the plan for the rest of the day.

"Alright Amelia we're going to go look around Clilke for the rest of the day," said Lina. 

"But I want to look around too, I'm sure he'll be fine for a hour or two," pleaded Amelia.

"Wouldn't that go against your justice code Amelia," said Filia as she sipped some tea. "I thought as a shrine maiden you help the sick."

"Aren't you a priestess though, you're under the same belief!"

"Not for a mazuko, humans maybe, dragons of course, but as a mazuko it goes against my being a priestess."

"How about we vote then?" suggested Gourry. When everyone stared at him he said "What?"

"Alright all in vote of Amelia raise their hands" said Lina. Everyone except Amelia raised their hands.

"But...but..."stuttered Amelia as she watched the others walk out the door. 'How do I take care of a sick mazuko?' she thought as she walked up stairs to the room they put Xellos in.

After she walked in she felt guilty. 'It's not Xellos's fault he got sick. I didn't even think mazukos even got sick at all. Wait, mabye that's why he's been acting so strangely lately, I'll have to ask him when he wakes up' she thought as she got a chair and sat a little distance away from him.

~ ~ ~ ( do you like the squigglies? ^o^)

Some time later Amelia heard a groan. She looked over to Xellos to see he was starting to waking up. 'At least his fever dropped a little but he still looks really sick.'

'How did I get here?' Xellos thought. He then started to sit up but found out he was too tired. He could barely move.

"Mister Xellos don't do that," said Amelia as she walked into his line of vision. "You need to lie down and rest for the best and fastest recovery."

He looked at her with his eyes open "How did I get here?"

"We had to carry you after you fainted. I didn't know mazukos get sick, but if I'm going to help you get better I'll need to ask some questions."

"What makes you think I will answer them?"

"I will then explain why you should answer every question in the name of justice. And I'll use the full speeches not the abbreviated ones I use most of the time." She then looked at him confidently.

Xellos tried to teleport but couldn't. 'I can't use my powers,' he thought with alarm 'and I won't be able to listen to any of her justice speeches now!'

Amelia watched him think and nearly laughed at the expression he had on. 'I don't think he can get out of this one, he'll have to answer any question I ask him now,' she thought. 

"My first question is if you eat anything can you draw energy from it?" When she received no answer she started to talk. "Truth is a large factor in justice. This is mainly due to the fact that..."

"Alright, alright, alright!" Xellos quickly said. As he began to answer he couldn't help but pout (think about it, anyone would in that situation). "Yes, eating physical food gives me energy."

"But how much energy does it give you compared to what you usually have?"

"Around one-third I suppose, negative emotions come in different power levels so it is hard to say."

"What do you mean?"

"Well some emotions are naturally stronger then others, and it also depends on the person and cause as well."

"Explain a little more" Amelia didn't need to know this but she always had been curious about it.

"Anger is a strong emotion but if you have someone who gets angry often, its not quite as strong as someone who rarely gets angry if they get mad for the same reason. But if you get angry over something that is stolen it not as strong as you being mad at losing a friend or something like that." 

{My opinion for the whole how mazuko's feed}

"Ok, last question for now do you sleep at all and how often?"

"Yes, I sleep once every couple of months. Why?"

{Also my opinion ^_^}

"Oh, okay!" said Amelia as she walked to the door.

Xellos watched her leave 'I can't believe I so weak right now. Me, Xellos Metallium priest and general for Lord Beastmaster. At least she didn't ask anything important.' He then tried to sit up again but just like before he found out that he couldn't.

Amelia walked back in with a bowl of soup. "Mr. Xellos I have some chicken soup that I think you'll like."

"..."

"This will help you get better Mr. Xellos" she said as she put it right next to him.

He looked up towards Amelia, then the soup, then at Amelia again with his eyes open. "I'm not eating that."

"Why would you like something else then?"

"No."

"But you should eat something Mr. Xellos. Or instead I could start another speech if you like."

"Fine!" Xellos snapped. "I'm just really tired and I don't think I can do that!" he said as he glared at Amelia. 'I hate admitting when I'm at a disadvantage or weak!' he thought angrily.

"Oh" said Amelia 'He must be worse off then I thought.' She brightened up as a idea came to her. "I can feed you Mr. Xellos" she said as she took the bowl and spoon.

"No."

"Justice is composed of many different elements..."

"Ok already," he said sulkily as he glared at her.' I can't believe I'm doing this...' he thought as he opened his mouth after she helped him sit up.

As Amelia gave him a spoonful she said "That wasn't so bad was it?" She received another glare as an answer. It went on like this until the soup was almost gone. On the last spoonful she thought 'He's sort of acting like a young child about this whole ordeal' When she thought this she laughed.

Hearing Amelia laugh Xellos looked at her. "What's so funny?" he said sulkily. 

"Nothing really. Now I think you should go back to sleep. If you don't think you can I'll cast a sleep spell and I think it would work on you."

'She's probably right about the spell working '. He sighed "I'll just go to sleep, don't cast anything." 'Besides I'm already tired' he thought as he yawned when Amelia walked out of the room. He was asleep in a matter of minutes.

~ ~ ~ (Whooooo Hoooooo I love squigglies ^_~)

"So Amelia how was it," asked Filia. She and the others felt a little guilty about how they acted earlier.

"I think Mr. Xellos needs awhile longer before he can get out of bed," replied Amelia as she twirled her spaghetti with her fork.

"Tomorrow who will watch him?" asked Zelgadis as he sipped his (what else does he drink really ^.^') coffee.

Everyone was surprised when Amelia volunteered. 

"But I thought you wanted to see the town."

"I was wrong earlier today, so in the name of justice I will help Mr. Xellos." When she received sweat drops and stares she knew what they were thinking. "No, I didn't make him feel worse by talking about justice all day." 'Well' she thought to herself 'that is partially true and there are a couple more things I want to ask him when he feels a little better. Things I've always been curious about.'

"Ok if that is what you want" said Lina shaking her head.

Amelia stood up and announced "I'm going back upstairs now I'll see you all at breakfast." As she walked up the stairs she thought 'I've always been curious about mazukos. After all humans and dragons don't really know anything at all about them. Mabye if I know more about them I can understand why they always act the way they do.' She opened the door and walked over to the bed.

'His fever is almost gone' she thought as she felt his forehead. She looked at Xellos more closely and thought 'He looks different when he sleeps, like he isn't hiding anything at all.' As she took her hand off she brushed his hair back with her hand. She was surprised at how silky and soft it was. She sat down and leaned back in her chair, later she fell asleep.

Later that night around midnight Xellos woke up. He didn't try to sit up this time though. 'I do feel a little better but it will take awhile for me to recover. Eating probably did help I won't admit it though.' He looked around the room and saw Amelia sleeping in the chair. 'I'm beginning to think everyone underestimates Amelia and she isn't naive as she seems. I don't think any of the others could of forced me to do the things she made me do, even if it was embarrassing. Of course, I don't think any of the others would even think of that. Can't believe I was hand fed' he thought dejectedly. Having nothing else to do he decided to go back to sleep, which he did.

~ ~ ~ ( be happy 'cause the squigglies are happy)

Amelia was waking up, the first thing she noticed was that her neck was stiff from the way she fell asleep. 'I won't go to sleep like that again for awhile' she thought as she stood up and stretched, She walked over to the bed and put her hand on Xellos's forehead. She jumped when he said "I don't think I have a fever anymore." After that he chuckled when she looked at him with a shocked expression.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long."

"Oh, I'll be right back with some more soup, ok." she said as walked towards the door.

When Amelia closed the door Xellos struggled but managed to sit up. 'Well at least I can move, but it still takes a lot of energy.' He rearranged the pillows and leaned back. 

Amelia came back in and frowned. "Mr. Xellos your suppose to conserve your energy." In reply Xellos just shrugged and smiled. "Well I can tell you're feeling better, but you're still going to eat this and stay in bed. Do you think you can feed yourself today?"

Xellos thought 'It was hard to sit up, I hate to admit but I don't think I'll be able to eat that whole thing by myself.' He looked at Amelia and sighed "No."

Amelia smiled, then held up the first spoonful. She couldn't help but smile at his expression the whole time. Minutes later after the bowl was empty she said "That wasn't so bad was it Mr. Xellos? You're being more mature about this today."

"There is nothing I can do about it now, except go along with what you say even if..." he stopped quickly as his eyes widened. 'I didn't want to say that!'

"You're right there Mr. Xellos." she said as she surpressed her laughter. She knew that she liked that shocked expression on his face. "I have a couple more questions too. How long have you been sick any way?"

"About a week." 

"No wonder why your so sick right now." She glared at him "Why didn't you say anything, you probably could have avoided getting this bad."

When she glared at him he sweat-dropped. "It didn't concern any of you so I just ignored it. Besides would any of you believed me, or even cared?"

Amelia was quiet she knew he had a point. "But I would've. I noticed you had been acting differently lately and you also did look pale the night before you fainted."

Xellos winced at the term fainted but looked at her and replied" You were the only one who noticed then, Amelia." 

"I was but Miss Lina noticed I think or Mr. Zelgadis did."

"No they didn't."

Amelia looked up at the ceiling and tried to think of something to say. "Ummm...my next question is ummm..." she blurted the next thing which came to her mind which surprised herself and Xellos. "Can you only feed on negative emotions Mr. Xellos?"

"I was raised to feed off of negative emotions." After he said that he put his hand on his forehead and thought 'I didn't want to say it that way! Keeping secrets and being ill obviously don't mix.'

Amelia looked interested "Can you tell me more? I mean you know how we all grew up and stuff. So how did you grow up?"

"Would it change your mind at all if I said I didn't want to talk about it." She shook her head no. He sighed "Then what if I said I can't and shouldn't tell you." Amelia remained with the same expression on her face. 

"I promise I won't tell anyone then. I promise on justice and give my word as a princess of Sailune."

Xellos was quiet for a moment then he started talking in a dead sort of voice. " We were taught to follow orders first of all simple or complex it didn't matter. Anyone who disobeyed in any way was severely punished, severely enough where some died from it. The next thing was to learn how to push back our emotions so they don't interfere with orders. Almost all types of emotion positive particulary, negative feelings were allowed. I think I won't go into detail of how they did that Amelia let's just say it is very unpleasant and leave it at that. I don't really remember much anyway and I don't want or care to." He looked at her and said "Don't ask me any more about it." 

{This is my opinion about mazukos acting the way they do, that they aren't born evil just raised like that. If you agree with me or not is entirely up to you. ^_~}

Amelia looked at Xellos with a thoughtful and symphathetic expression on her face. "You know Mr. Xellos I'm going to go have lunch. Why don't you go back to sleep." She picked up the empty soup bowl and left. 'I think he needs a little time by himself' she thought sympathetically.

Xellos watched her leave. 'After this I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Beastmaster decides to send me for retraining' he shuddered at the thought. 'I hope she is in one of her good moods when I tell her this. Mabye I should just go back to sleep this isn't helping me any.' He fell into a deep sleep minutes later.

~ ~ ~ ( ... I'm running out of comments -_-;)

"Amelia! Over here!" yelled Lina from the table the group sat at.

"Hi everyone." said Amelia as she joined them and started to eat.

"How are you," asked Filia.

"I'm fine don't worry" she said as she started to eat slowly still thinking about what she learned.

"Are you sure you looked troubled?" said Filia.

'I promised I wouldn't tell I'll think about it later' Amelia smiled at her "I'm ok just a little tired that's all."

"One of us could look after him Amelia it isn't fair that you have to do all the work" commented Zelgadis as he looked at her.

"I don't mind." when everyone looked at her she said "Really, I don't mind at all." She thought about Xellos's earlier comment about no one noticing how he had acted differently. "Did any of you think Mr. Xellos was acting weird just before he got sick."

Everyone appeared to think for a moment then shook their heads no.

Gourry looked confused "Who?" This caused everyone to facefault. Lina then pounced on him saying the usual insults while whacking him on his head.

Amelia stood up, stretched, and yawned "I'm going back upstairs now okay?"

When she walked into the room she knew Xellos was asleep. She sat down in the chair looked at Xellos and thought 'I thought mazukos couldn't feel emotions. Besides the shape they say the eyes are the window to the soul and you can usually tell what someone is feeling if you look into their eyes. Mabye that's why he keeps his eyes closed all the time. If they're raised to kill you really can't blame them, just the people who raised them.' She knew she would now think of Xellos differently, rather then just a mazuko who traveled with them. 

Something that shimmered then caught her attention on the floor She bent down to pick it up. It was a small black feather, with a purplish sheen on one side.' Oh this is very pretty. It's like the one I found earlier,' she thought. She put the feather in her pouch with the other and leaned back. 'I'm going to take a nap now,' was the last thing she thought before she fell fast asleep.

~ ~ ~(hail squigglies ^_^;)

Downstairs the others were talking about Amelia's sudden change of mind.

"She seemed to really want to look around town earlier," said Lina.

"I wonder what brought this change of mind?" muttered Filia. 

"I think we should check on her," said Zelgadis.

Gourry just listened the entire time.

"Yeah, Xellos could be up to something," said Filia as she looked towards the stairs.

"Or Amelia could be giving justice routines," said Lina following Filia's gaze.

"In either case let's check on them both," said Zelgadis as he stood up. Everyone else followed suit. They all went up the stairs but stopped just before the door.

"It is very quiet in there..." whispered Zelgadis.

"We're still going in" said Lina as she opened the door.

They saw Amelia's back first of all in a chair near the bed but not right next to it. They immediately knew she was sleeping from her deep even breathing. They then saw Xellos lying in bed also apparently sleeping (come on you can't easily tell if he is asleep or awake). Everyone was quiet.

"Well, we came to check up on them, but they're sleeping. Should we wake them up?" said Filia.

Gourry was in the back and couldn't see so he tried to inch quietly forward but tripped over someone's foot. This didn't make too much noise but it was enough to wake up Xellos.

He opened his eyes looked at them, then closed his eyes and smiled. "Well, hello. What brings you all up here?"

"We just came to check up on you guys," said Gourry from his position on the floor.

"And make sure you aren't killing each other or something like that," said Zelgadis.

"Well we're both alive as you can see. But can you lower your voices a little?"

"Why?" asked Lina in a quieter voice.

"I just don't want you to wake up Amelia." When everyone looked at him he shrugged as best he could and said "She's been working hard and not getting much sleep. Besides I don't want her to wake up, she's really taking being a healer a little to seriously."

"In other words she's taking care of you," said Filia flatly. "I should of agreed with Amelia yesterday if you don't show a little gratitude," she growled as she walked towards the bed.

"I never said it that way Filia," nervously said Xellos. 'I think being maced will hurt so I'd better not get her mad today,' he thought quickly. 

With all the talking Amelia was starting to wake up. No one really noticed until stood up and said "What are you all doing in here?! Out! Out!" She shooed everyone out and turned around to Xellos before she went out the door. "I'll be back with food, ok?" She then closed the door and whirled around to her friends. "What were you all doing in there?"

"We were making sure you two were ok," said Lina looking at Amelia. She never saw Amelia get this worked up unless something seriously unjust had been done.

"Well you could of asked me at lunch you know Miss Lina. Besides you're not suppose to bother sick people," she said as she headed for the kitchen. "They need rest."

"Amelia he's a mazuko," said Filia "Don't forget he's dangerous."

"Well right now he's not," Amelia looking at her "You should of seen how bad he was yesterday. And it will be another day before I let him get out of bed at least." She turned to the cook "I want some soup and toast please."

"Well if you want to switch with one of us any time Amelia just say so," said Zelgadis.

"Thank you Mr. Zelgadis but I'm sure I won't need to," she took the food and headed for the stairs. "See you all at dinner, and next time knock or ask if you want to go in Xellos's room, ok."

"..." was everyone's response as they watched her walk up the stairs.

"Xellos was right, she is being very serious about this," remarked Gourry when they no longer saw Amelia.

Author's Notes: Don't flame me for spelling I don't have a spell checker thingiemajigger O_o; (don't I have a way with words ^_~) I think Xellos and Amelia are cute but I have many other favorites so don't hate me if you don't like the couple. I can't believe how long this is *then mutters under her breath* and it wouldn't leave me alone til I typed it. 


	2. Friends?

**Disclaimer: **I own no one in this fic, (i.e. the Slayers)but I do own my idea.

Author's Notes: If I got some reviews this will be up as a second chapter (like right now I guess ^_^;). And if you did review my first chapter THANK YOU!!! Well, as I state in my meager amount of fics and chapters I love feed back. So if you review once I'll love you, twice I'll worship you, third (I don't know if I'll get that far even) I'll think of something above worshiping ^_^; (ahahaha...O_o; what would I do for a fourth???!!!) So PLEASE review!!! And {} are still my opinions. This starts exactly where I left off for the other chapter. At first I planned for this to only have one chapter. But when I got to page 12 for my first chapter I thought I better split it up. And I'm sorry it took so long to get this part out, writer's block. Well I'll be quiet now, I hope you like my fic. 

~ ~ ~ ( I love squigglies ^.^)

"I have some food Mr. Xellos," said Amelia as she walked in.

"Amelia can't you just call me Xellos?"

"Why? This is only proper and besides it's a habit of mine," said Amelia looking curious.

"Well it makes me feel old."

"I thought you were over a thousand years old."

"... Alright, really old then like twice my age."

"Oh, I'll try then Xellos. I got some toast in case you were bored of just soup. How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"I know you don't like being hand fed so how about a deal." When she knew she had his attention she continued. "I'll still fed you the soup, and you can eat the toast I brought up."

Xellos shrugged "I really think I don't need to eat anything."

"Mist..."Amelia stopped and cleared her throat "Xellos I think you should. Right now could be a very good time for me to sing you know."

Xellos sweat-dropped "If you put it that way Amelia."

Amelia smiled as she held up the first spoonful while Xellos sat up. {Yes I know this is a little repetitious bear with me please}After the soup was gone (there was a grimace or two on Xellos's part but other then that it went smoothly) Amelia held up the bread and asked "Are you still hungry?"

Xellos just took the toast and started to eat it. After he did that he looked seriously at her and said "Amelia, I'm sure you know I can't just eat physical food. I really should feed soon." He then mentally added 'Very soon, I'm starving.' 

Amelia sighed "I kind of thought that, tomorrow I think I'll let you get out of bed for awhile. This goes against my better judgement, but you did recover faster then I thought you would. But I'm going to go with you just in case something happens."

Xellos shrugged and was quiet. He looked out the window for awhile and saw it was dark out. When he looked back at Amelia she was fast asleep. 'She is really trying to help me get better. I don't really understand why though. If she believes in justice so much and she considers mazukos evil, why did she help me?' 

He flashed back to when she found out he was a mazuko. How she had wanted him to repeat every night that 'life was wonderful'. Soon followed by a musical version sung by her, Zelgadis, and Gourry {I never actually saw this but I making a guess from a picture I saw}. 'I guess I'm just not used to anyone going out of their way for me.' He fell asleep awhile later.

~ ~ ~ ( lookie at the squigglies :P)

Amelia was up rather late the next day. She had gotten a better night's rest on a floor bed then the chair. But she was still sort of tired though. She visited the kitchen first for her breakfast, then brought up something besides soup for Xellos. When she entered the room again she thought it could use more light. So she opened all the windows and let the bright sunshine in. 

Xellos however woke up when the light got into his eyes {don't you hate it when people do that to you? I do!!!}. He then groaned and pulled the covers over his head.

Amelia thought it was time to get up though. They had both really slept in today, it was almost noon. She then briskly walked over to Xellos and pulled the sheets off.

"Hey!" he said as he covered his eyes. 

{Another theory, mazuko are kind of light sensitive with their eyes. I mean as a creature of the night they can probably see in pitch black areas with out using magical sights. Mabye that's why most of them have cat-like eyes.}

"It's time to get up now." Amelia chirped. Xellos was blinking his eyes trying to get used to the light as Amelia continued" If you want to go around town today we're doing it this afternoon or tomorrow, your choice. And I thought you would like this better today Xellos!" she said cheerily as she put a bowl of stew on the table next to the bed.

"I'm not..." he trailed off when Amelia half glared at him. "Ok," he said then he started eating it.

While he was doing that Amelia started to gather some of her things. "Like I said yesterday Xellos, I'm going with you. And we're not leaving town so I hope you didn't plan on it."

By now Xellos was done eating so he replied "No, I didn't plan on leaving town. But I do think I know what type of place to visit."

"Where?" 

"Would a bar of some type be fine with you?"

"Okay, but how is that a good place to visit to feed?"

"Emotions run high there and I don't have to do anything."

"Okay, we'll sit in the back or something." Amelia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Are you ready then?" she asked as she handed him his staff. She watched him critically as he stood up. "And tell me if you start to get tired. I don't want you to faint again."

"...Alright."

They both walked out of the room down the stairs and out of the inn. They wandered around town for a while until Xellos pointed out a spot. They both walked in.

~ ~ ~ (yyyaaayyy squigglies!!!)

Amelia never had visited a bar like this before. She was surprised at how some people could be so violent when drunk. People seemed to come here to let out stress (or show a grudge) in a fight. They were sitting towards a corner of the room out of the mainstream of people. This wasn't exactly against justice so she just watched. 'We've been here for a half an hour we'd better get back soon. Just in case the others start to worry.' She leaned back in her chair as she looked at Xellos. 

Xellos was definitely feeling better. 'I needed this,' he thought as leaned on the table with his head down (he could still look around though). 

"We really should get back soon Mist..."she stopped for a second or two "Xellos are you almost done?"

"Yes," he replied. He looked at her "I wanted to thank you for letting me do this." She looked curiously at him as he continued "I honestly didn't think you'd let me feed. You don't know how much I needed this." 

"Why? When was the last time you fed then?"

"About a week and a half just before I got sick."

"Wait." she said looking thoughtful "how often should you feed?"

"One good feeding like this once a week or many small snacks." 

{My opinion ~_^}

"Xellos you should've told me sooner." she said angrily as she glared at him. "I almost didn't let you go today. You may have gotten worse tomorrow then." When he sighed she stopped "I'm sorry, here you are thanking me and I snapped at you."

"It is partially my fault too Amelia. You're trying to help me, I'm not exactly used too that. Also, I'm not used to telling so much to a human." Xellos glanced at her as he stood up. "You wanted to get back to the inn before night fall right?" 

"Right" she replied as she walked out the door with him. 'I don't remember him thanking anyone before. And he doesn't apologize much either. I think he really means it' she thought.

~ ~ ~ ( joy to the squigglies!!! ^.^) 

They soon reached the inn again. It was around dinner time so they both saw the rest of the group eating at a table.

"Over here," yelled Lina after she swallowed. "We haven't seen you all day Amelia, where did you guys go anyway," she asked as Xellos and Amelia sat down at the table.

"Well we..." Amelia was interrupted as her stomach growled. 

"How about you get something to eat first Amelia?" Filia said.

"Yeah!" replied Amelia as she started to eat like Lina. The table was silent except for the sound of eating people. A little bit later Amelia slowed down and noticed Xellos wasn't eating. She frowned and glared at him "Xellos..." 

"Amelia I'm fine, really," said Xellos looking at her.

"Xellos..." repeated Amelia with a bit more of a growl.

"Alright then," Xellos said as he started to eat as well. 

The others had question marks over their head.

"I thought mazukos didn't eat," Gourry said.

"Usually we don't," Xellos said after he drank some water.

"Why eat now then?" Lina asked.

"...Ask Amelia," Xellos replied.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis curiously said.

"I made him," Amelia simply stated causing Xellos to sweat-drop. "Xellos, when you're done could you go back upstairs."

Xellos just nodded in reply, his mouth was full. He stood up, left the table, and walked up the stairs. He opened the door to his room and walked over to the bed. 'I should check to see if I can do magic,' Xellos tried to teleport yet he couldn't. 

'Mabye a simple spell then,' he mentally sighed. He concentrated for a second and a ball of light appeared. "It may take awhile before my magic fully recovers." 

He canceled the light spell and walked over to the window. It was night time he couldn't see the moon but he saw the stars. He continued to look at them as he sat down and leaned on the window sill.

~ ~ ~ (:P Hi ho squiggies!)

"Amelia you look tired," said Zelgadis.

"I'm fine Mr. Zelgadis," Amelia said.

"Amelia," Gourry began.

"Yes Mr. Gourry,"

"How come you still call us Mr. and Ms. but not Xellos?" Gourry asked.

"Well it's because..." Amelia started to reply.

"Amelia do you think Xellos will be able to travel tomorrow?" interrupted Lina.

"He should rest for another day, but I actually think he could. If he got tired we'd have to stop."

"Alright we leave tomorrow then!" yelled a very happy Lina. "I was getting so bored here!"

Amelia stood up "I'm going upstairs now, good night," She yawned as she walked in Xellos's room. She looked at the bed 'He's not in bed, where is he then..."she thought as she scanned the room. When Amelia spotted him near the window she thought 'There he is,' Amelia walked over to him. 

'He's sleeping, but he shouldn't be sleeping here. I should move him to the bed but I don't want to wake him up,' She gently reached under his arms and got a good hold on him. Amelia then slowly lifted him (not off the ground, his feet were dragging) and was surprised. 'I thought he would be heavier, but he must weigh around my weight," She slowly dragged him over to the bed. 

Before she got there Xellos muttered something and turned his head towards her(she didn't notice but he faintly smiled). Amelia froze thinking he was waking up. When he didn't do anything else she continued dragging him to the bed. She managed to get him in bed without waking him up. Xellos curled up immediately (he still had that faint smile on) making Amelia smile. 

Amelia yawned again as she walked over to her floor-bed. She sat down and pulled the blankets over her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a twinkle. Looking fully at it she realized it was another feather like the one she had been finding lately. She reached over and picked it up. 'I don't think anything else came in this room, where are these pretty feathers coming from then?' she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

~ - ~ - ~ (squigglies have cousins!! ~_^)

The next day we find the group traveling along the road. Lina was leading closely followed by Amelia and Gourry. Filia was further behind, and Zelgadis not to far behind her. Xellos walked in the back.

'I wish I could talk to someone but..." Amelia looked at Lina 'Ms. Lina wasn't in a good mood this morning. My survival instincts tell me to stay away from her. Mr. Gourry really can't follow a conversation. Mr. Zelgadis doesn't like to talk to me at all.' She sighed at that thought and continued looking at the others. 'Filia only talks about dragon customs, sometimes I don't understand them at all. Xellos...wait, why not? Before I wouldn't talk to him because he was a mazuko, but that is an unjust reason not to talk to him.' Amelia slowed her pace so she would eventually fall back.

'I still don't understand why Amelia helped me. I'll have to ask her about that sometime.' Xellos chuckled at his next thought 'Who would of though I'd be out witted by Amelia. I've got to give her credit for that and keep a better eye on her in the future.'

"Xellos" Amelia said as she waved her hand in front of Xellos's face.

"Oh! Amelia" Xellos was visibly startled, he opened his eyes (he closed them after a few surprised blinks) "I didn't see you come up to me" Xellos said smiling and rubbing the back of his head. 'Either I was not paying attention or she is very good at sneaking around.'

"Xellos how are you doing? We've been walking all morning?"

"I'm fine" A few moments of silence passed. "Amelia, why did you help me? If you believe in justice, why help me, a mazuko?" He looked curiously at her.

"I like helping people, I enjoy doing that. It would've have been wrong to leave you there when you were so sick anyway." Amelia smiled "Like you said I bet many people don't help you, is that why you're asking me this?"

"Yeah, before you never used to talk to me why start now?"

Amelia took a deep breath, "Now that, is a secret!" Amelia grinned as she giggled. 'Now I know why Xellos likes to say that. It's so much fun to see people's reactions.'

Xellos had face faulted at her comment 'That was unexpected.' He then blinked up at Amelia.

"Sorry Xellos, I couldn't help it. But the answer is that I guess I was biased. I never really thought about who you were, I just thought of you as a mazuko." Amelia looked downcast "I was unfair and unjust when I got to know you better I realized what I had been doing. I'm sorry."

A strong gust of wind came from behind them. Amelia noticed another black feather. She hurried and caught it before it blew away. "Xellos I've been finding these feathers lately. Mabye it's a signal for help from someone who can only send a bird. Did you see a bird or something that might have these feathers. "

"N-no Amelia" Xellos replied. "Why, did you pick up the feathers in the first place?"

Amelia reached in her pouch and took out the other three feathers. "I thought they were really pretty. See on one side it has a neat shimmer, the other side it doesn't."

"Amelia we've fallen behind the others. We should catch up to them." Xellos said as he pointed ahead of them.

"Right" she said as she put the four feathers back in her pouch. If Amelia had looked at Xellos she would have noticed that he had a small sweat-drop. 

~ ~ ~ (greeting from the squigglies)

Amelia had first watch, and she was pacing around the campsite. She was still thinking how unusual it was to find so many feathers mabye someone was trying to ask for help. She decided if she found one more feather she would try to figure out where they had come from. Her watch was nearly over when she saw a tell tale glimmer near a log they had used as a chair. 

'Should I wake up the others? I know they will be mad at me, they may not even understand. I know! Where is Xellos, if he sleeping I'll wake him up.' She walked around the campsite until she saw him in a tree.

Using her hero training she was able to climb the tree (it was a hard to climb tree). Amelia reached a branch close to Xellos's, she realized he was asleep. "Xellos" Amelia whispered as she shook his shoulder "Xellos."

"What?" Xellos lost balance at his sudden wake up call. He nearly fell off the branch, but managed to catch himself in time. "I'm up, I'm up" he replied as he looked at her. 'I didn't hear her come up, she is good.'

"Sorry, but I found another feather. I think it is kind of suspicious to find so many. I think I may look for the owner of these feathers they could need help."

"I wouldn't bother Amelia" Xellos said as he pulled himself back onto the branch.

"Why not?" 

Xellos was quiet for a moment, he appeared to be internally debating something. "...Come with me and I'll tell you why" Xellos back flipped off the branch and landed silently on the ground. 

"Wow, I wish I could do that" she said in a hushed voice. She climbed down and followed Xellos out of camp. "This looks like a good place Xellos" she said as the reached a small clearing a small distance from the camp site. "Can you tell me now?"

Xellos stopped and turned around. "Will you promise not to tell anyone, or laugh?" he looked at her seriously.

"I promise." Amelia knew by now Xellos was nervous. He proved this when he started to do nervous habits (poking two fingers together, moving a foot around in a circle, sweat-drop, etc).

"Really?" he looked at her with pleading eyes (his eyes were open).

"Yes, I promise." Amelia then thought 'He's acting unusual now I've never really seen him nervous."

Xellos turned a light pink as he started to undo his cloak/cape(I don't know exactly what he wears) clasp. 

'Wait I never remember seeing him without his cloak/cape on' she thought. She also turned a light pink as she thought 'What if someone saw us now?'

"Amelia I'm sure you know this, but mazukos no matter how high their level cannot take a perfect human form. Usually our eyes stand out, mabye we look like our true forms, or we show or have something that reflects our true form." {My opinion, I noticed this while watching the show}Xellos bangs covered his eyes as he finished undoing his clasp. His cloak/cape fell off. Only to reveal a large pair of black wings that Xellos slowly unfurled a little.

Amelia gasped then ran forward to gently touch a wing. She saw that like the feathers the inside had a purple sheen (it was sort of dull) while the out side was just black. "Oh they're so pretty, just like an angel's." Amelia said this even though the wings appeared kind of ruffled. She noticed that Xellos was depressed (he had the black and blue lines over his head with a white swirl or two). "What's wrong Xellos?"

"That's why I prefer to keep them hidden." as he said this his wings drooped a little 

"Oh" As Amelia started to stroke one wing, several feathers fell off.

"What's wrong with them, is it because you were sick?" she asked concerned.

" I'm molting, I guess." he replied as he sat down.

Amelia managed to hold in her laughter at Xellos's reply and at the tone he had said it. "I have an idea I'll be right back."

"Don't bother Amelia" Xellos said as he reached for his cloak/cape. Amelia however grabbed his cloak/cape and cast a levitation.

"Stay there Xellos."

"Amelia..." Xellos said, but she had already flew off. 'I'm not going back to camp like this. 'I think I've been out done again. This time I guess I don't mind. Why did I tell Amelia about my wings anyway? They're embarrassing enough as it is. But I knew I trusted her, still do.' He stood back up and looked to the sky watching for Amelia. 

Amelia flew back and landed. "Here, I know how to fix your problem" she said as she held up a wire brush she had taken from her pack. She put the pack and Xellos's cloak/cape down then she advanced toward Xellos.

Xellos shook his head, held his hands in front of him, and took a few steps back. "No, Amelia don't..."

Amelia gently but firmly caught hold of his right wing. She then started to brush it.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Xellos winced.

Amelia stopped and looked up "What's wrong am I brushing to hard?"

Xellos sweat-dropped, he managed to pull back his wing. He then touched where she had been brushing. His hand came away with some blood on it.

Amelia gasped "I'm sorry." She was mortified. 

"Not your fault Amelia. Another reason why I hid my wings is because they're sensitive, and sort of delicate." Xellos let go of his wing and looked at her with open eyes. "And if I was trying to blend in with a crowd I'd immediately stand out." He went back to his usual expression.

Amelia then fished around in her pack she came up with one of the softest brushes she had. "May I try again? If it hurts I'll stop." Amelia the walked behind Xellos and started to brush as softly as she could.

Xellos sat there expecting it to be uncomfortable at least but was surprised at how soothing it was instead. 'This is actually quite pleasant' he thought as he sighed. He unconsciously stretched his wings out more (they were half folded or furled). 'Usually I'd try to avoid being with Amelia alone, but I've come to enjoy her company. Now I'd say I prefer her company if I had to choose out of the whole group.'

Amelia stopped for a moment when he extended his wings. But she continued when he didn't say anything. She had guessed why the wire brush had hurt so much, it had pulled out the good feathers along with the ones being shed. 

She was totally absorbed in her work, so she jumped when Xellos quietly said "Thank you." 

"Don't thank me Xellos. I want to thank you for telling me about your wings, if you really didn't like them. I honestly don't know why you dislike them so much. I like them very much, and don't worry I won't tell anyone." She started to brush the inside of his left wing after she finished brushing the other side of it. 

"Why do I dislike them?" Xellos looked at her "I already told you some reasons. Another would be that I can't fight with them."

"Why is that?" Amelia asked as she continued brushing.

"Well if I was in mid jump and someone pulled my wing, I'd land a lot sooner then I expected. Not to mention I'd break a wing or something else." Xellos leaned back on a tree then looked at his wings. "They're more of an annoyance then anything else" he sighed. 

"Oh." Amelia brightened as she looked at his wing she was brushing "Look you can see the difference." It was true the wing she was brushing looked better. It was sleek and you could see the sheen better. 

Xellos looked at it then the other. "You're right." 

Several minutes of silence passed. Until Amelia got up and walked behind the right wing and started brushing that one. 'I'm glad Xellos trusted me enough to tell me this.' Looking down she was surprised at how many feathers there were. 'Wow, he really needed to brush them.' She started on the inside of the right wing. 'I'm almost done, but mabye I can ask Xellos to see them again. I enjoyed doing this.' She faced Xellos with the question ready but didn't ask when she saw him sleeping. 

She paused when she came to her earlier brushing work. 'I do need to brush that too.' Amelia gently started to brush the area, she wasn't surprised when the wing jerked back. 'It is the last place I have to do.' She continued brushing 'I'm done ' she thought as she put the brush back in her pack. Looking at the sky she was surprised to find out that it was nearly midnight. 'Has it been that long?'

'I'll sit down for just a minute' she thought as she yawned and sat near Xellos. Amelia fell asleep moments later. 

~ ~ ~ (I think I over did that scene -_-;)

Amelia didn't want to wake up she was so warm. She turned over and stretched out. All of a sudden she remembered where she was. 'The others are probably worried about me. Wait, how was I able to stay warm, especially since it gets so cold at night?' 

She opened her eyes and saw what was keeping her warm. {No they weren't that close they were a foot and a half apart}She sat up and realized she was on top of one of Xellos's wings with the other over her. She blushed 'I must of rolled on his wing. So he had to turn this way and put his other wing on me. I hope I didn't hurt it.' 

Xellos woke up as just after Amelia did. He then tried to stand but only could get to a sitting position. "Amelia could you get off me?"

"Sorry Xellos" she said as she stood up. She then stretched and yawned.

Xellos stood up and stretched as well (he also unconsciously stretched his wings to full length which he didn't do last night). When he noticed Amelia staring at him he sweat-dropped. 'How did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was Amelia brushing my wings." 

'It's a really cold morning today' she thought as she rubbed her arms. 'I wish I hadn't decided to get up I felt so warm, comfortable, and...protected too.' 

Amelia heard footsteps coming closer. 'I promised Xellos I wouldn't tell, but I don't think he's want anyone else to find out.' She whispered "Xellos, someone is coming." 

Xellos's eyes widened as when he heard footsteps as well. He silently leapt up into a near by tree and blended in with the shadows. 

Gourry walked into the clearing. He then yelled over his shoulder "I found her!" Then he turned back to Amelia "You'd better come to camp soon. Everyone was worried." 

"I'll be back in a minute let me gather my things Mr. Gourry"

"Ok" 

After Gourry left Amelia sighed in relief. Grabbing Xellos's cloak/cape she walked over to the tree. ""We're lucky it was Gourry who found us I think anyone else would've noticed your cloak/cape, or all these feathers. We should go back to camp now." 

Xellos hopped down to a lower branch. Crouching down he said "You'd better go back alone. No telling what their reaction would be if I walked back with you."

"But..." began Amelia. She knew he was right so she knew he was right. "Here" she said as she threw up the cloak/cape. 

Xellos caught it. "I'll meet up with you guys later." He then leapt from branch to branch till Amelia no longer saw him. 

'I'm sure Xellos won't mind if I keep a feather or two' she thought as she picked up some feathers. 

Amelia walked back to camp only to be vocally attacked.

"Amelia why did you wander off?! You didn't wake up Zel for his watch we could of been ambushed!" yelled Lina. 

"I'm sorry" Amelia said quietly.

"At least everyone is okay" said Filia.

They packed up camp and started walking down the road. 

Amelia was silent, she wasn't talking to anyone. She yawned and thought 'I didn't get enough sleep last night.' She took out a feather and gently rubbed it, she smiled.

"Everyone be on their toes we're going through theYugure Forest." said Lina as she pointed ahead of them.

~ ~ ~ (hooray for the squigglies!)

Xellos listened in to the conversation from the trees. 'Yugure Forest?! This isn't good. Especially for humans...'

Author's Notes: I'll work on the third part it will probably be the last, sorry for the cliffhanger! Tell me should I get a muse or not? Do I ramble on too much in my/have to many Author's Notes? Do you have a favorite squigglie formation? Did you read my other fic? Should I not ask any more questions? *tapes mouth shut* Mmmpphh mmm mpht umpht? O_o;(what did I say?)


	3. Yugure Forest

**Disclaimer:** I own no one, I only own the idea *pauses and looks thought ful* and TL-Dra. 

Author's Notes: Gomen that it took so long to get out, I had a severe writer's block. And this isn't the last part, I had to break it up again. Reviews are welcome, please no flames, and hope you like the ending. 

~ ~ ~ (Yeah, I like the squigglies ^o^)

'The Yugure Forest' mused Xellos from his perch in a tree. 'Most creatures that run around loose in there are a match for a mid-level mazuko. Also it's always dark in there as well.' Xellos sighed and shook his head, 'I thought they knew better then to take unnecessary risks. Especially when it could be avoided, they probably think it's a short cut and that they can handle it. I should try to talk them out of it, but they'll think I'm trying to trick them.' Xellos leapt to the next tree to keep up with the group. 'All I can do is follow and watch them' he sighed.

~ ~ ~ (- Lookie look! squigglies ^_^)

"Amelia you look tired" said Zelgadis.

"I just fell asleep late I'm fine" she replied, yawning a second later.

"There's the forest" said Filia pointing ahead.

"What forest?" asked Gourry causing Lina to pounce on him yelling insults and whacking him.

The forest from the outside looked innocent enough. It had huge towering trees (think red wood size). With so many large branches both high and low it formed a web that caught the sun's light never allowing it to touch the ground in the forest. Large plants still grew on the forest floor, making it hard to see what was to far ahead. Though it was rather small for a forest, it blocked a mountain pass. Standing there the group suddenly heard some unidentifiable howls and shrieks.

"M-mabye w-we shouldn't g-g-go in there" Filia stuttered.

"It's a short cut that will save us a week on traveling to Hyrodria. We won't have to go around the mountains." Even Lina appeared nervous about going in there. "I'm sure we'll be fine if we stick together, so don't anyone wander off." She walked towards the forest, the others soon followed.

~ ~ ~ (hail squigglies!! ~_^)

They had been in the forest for over three hours, but they were half way out. They had been attacked numerous times by strange creatures. But group had managed to defeat any creatures that challenged them.

"_Elmekia Lance!_" shouted Amelia and Zelgadis. The giant bat-like lizard creature (lizard that had nasty claws on its wings and front/back feet , long sharp teeth, covered in fur, and a apparently poisonous spike/blade on the end of his tail) flew over them unaffected by the spell. 

"It's another magic resistant creature!" Zelgadis said as he whipped out his sword "_Astral Vine!_" he jumped in front of Amelia cutting the lizard-bat down. Sheathing his sword he looked over at Gourry who had killed three of them.

Lina was exasperated "We walk 5 minutes then get attacked. After that we start walking again then get attacked again!" 

"Let's take a small break" said Filia sitting down everyone agreed. 

Xellos leapt to a lower branch so he could see everyone. 'Finally caught up to them.' he thought with relief. The branch he landed on moved nearly causing Xellos to fall. 'Oh no' A huge snake with long front legs, hissed and turned to face him. 'This is the third one I've run into' he mentally groaned. He leapt off the tail just as it attacked. Xellos landed on a branch above as the snake-thing cut through the branch it was on. Screeching it fell down. With a sweat drop he thought 'We'll hope they don't mind someone dropping in...'

'Sleep' thought Amelia as she sat near the others 'sleep, sleep...' CRASH!!! The snake-thing landed just behind her. Turning around as soon as she heard the crash she thought 'Sleep, giant mean scary creature, sleep.' Doing a double take she screamed. Before it could attack however Zelgadis jumped and slashed at the snake-thing, cutting its head off.

"Are you ok?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Zelgadis" she replied. She missed the eye twitch from Zelgadis.

'Why does she call me Mr. still, but not Xellos?!' Zelgadis silently fumed. 'I still think that mazuko did something to her.'

The party then resumed traveling through more of the forest, battling weird creatures very often. They were almost out until...

A screech like no other filled the air. It's sound echoed throughout the forest causing all other sounds to cease. A deadly silence followed it's wake. The Slayers knew they were in trouble as they heard loud earth shaking footsteps slowly headed their way.

The creature burst from the over grown foliage a second later knocking down two trees. It was a huge dark green lizard (think T-Rex look but with a narrow pointed jaw, and bigger eyes), with giant dragon-like wings (it had claw like hands on it's wings, instead of it's little puny front arms a T-Rex has), covered in scales, a pair of dangerous large blood red horns, and had rows of dark blue spikes down it's back ending with a nasty silver blades (several of them together made a fan-like appearance) on it's tail. 

"Light come forth!" shouted Gourry as he ran in and slashed at it. The light sword bounced off the scales with a hollow clang sound. 

Zelgadis yelled "_Ra Tilt_!" The creature was hidden from view in white-blue flames until it gave another screech. It charged out of the spell unaffected right at Zelgadis, who barely dodged it's attack. 

"Distract it as best you can!" shouted Lina. She began chanting:

__

Lord of the dreams that terrify,

sword of the cold dark lord,

free yourself from the heavens bonds.

Become one with my power,

one with my body,

and let us walk the path of destruction together.

Power that can smash even the souls of the gods.

Ragna Blade!

A large black sword appeared in her hands, crackling with blue electric power as she swung it at the beast (I'll name it a TL-Dra). The TL-Dra howled as it connected with it's shoulder, when the Ragna Blade disappeared everyone saw a small gash had been cut into the scales, but it wasn't even bleeding from it. 

The TL-Dra roared with fury as it started to run towards them.

"Scatter!" shouted Zelgadis. 

Lina then added "Try not to head deeper into the forest!"

Everyone ran in different directions. The TL-Dra followed Lina. 

'Why me' she thought as she zig-zagged through any thing small enough(the TL-Dra couldn't get up to full speed with her doing this). "_Ray Wing!_" She burst through the forest's edge to see a very large canyon. She saw Zelgadis and Filia on the other side waving a hurry up signal. She flew over the cliff and landed. Looking back she saw the TL-Dra standing at the edge of the cliff looking over at them. It glared at them with a primal rage in it's eyes as it turned around slowly and walked back into the forest.

"I'm glad it couldn't cross the gap" said Filia looking down into the canyon.

"When we see Amelia or Gourry we'll give them a ride over" said Zelgadis as he leaned against a rock.

Thump, whoosh, thump, thump whoosh.

"Do you hear that?" asked Lina worriedly.

A familiar screech filled the air as the saw the TL-Dra burst out of the forest wings fully extended and flapping. When it reached the edge of the cliff it leapt into the air, but didn't land on the other side.

"It can fly?!" yelled Filia as she looked at the now sky bound TL-Dra as it flew over head. It banked in the air and started to dive at them.

"Magic and weapons won't work what do we do!" shouted Zelgadis as the three started to run for cover.

"We can use the cliff!" yelled Filia.

"How?!" screeched Lina as they all ducked as it flew overhead. TL-Dra's tail just missed them as it tore up the ground in front of them.

"Make the rocks collapse on it!" Filia replied as she and the others scrambled to get up.

"Alright I'll distract it, I trust you two to make a avalanche on it, not me." said Lina as she veered away from the others.

"_Ray Wing!_" Lina yelled as she leapt off the cliff. 

"Fly closer to the side!" yelled Filia. 

Zelgadis was busy doing calculations on paper. "I got it! Aim where I'm pointing and when I say now fire."

"Hurry it's gaining on me!!" franticly shouted Lina.

"Now. _Damu Graus!_"Zelgadis shouted while Filia did a Lazer Breath.

The cliff crumbled and a loud shriek was heard as the avalanche begun.

"Lina!" Filia and Zelgadis shouted as they ran towards the canyon. They saw Lina sitting on a stone coughing.

"I'm fine, that was close" She and the looked down into the canyon and saw the TL-Dra's tail sticking out of the mass of rocks. When the rocks suddenly shifted everyone held their breath. TL-Dra broke out of all the rocks, shrieked and looked up at them.

"What does it take to kill this thing!" they all said.

TL-Dra shook itself and started to flap it's wings yet again. 

"Let's hide!" yelled Lina.

TL-Dra flew up out of the canyon and landed on the forest side.

"Huh?" said Filia after seeing this. She stopped the others and pointed at TL-Dra. TL-Dra appeared satisfied as it started to walk back into the forest.

They saw Gourry run out out of the forest just before TL-Dra. 

"Gourry look out!" they yelled.

Before Gourry could do anything though, TL-Dra walked right by him into the forest.

Lina, Filia, and Zelgadis flew over to Gourry.

"Why did that lizard smile at me?" he asked as the others landed.

"Everyone's here" said Lina looking at everyone, she paused a moment as her eyes widened. "Wait! Where's Amelia!!!" And as if it was an ominous omen the sun set, taking the last light of day with it.

~ ~ ~ (yes I really like the squigglies!!!)

'I wish I had heard what Ms. Lina said' though Amelia as she ran throught the dense undergrowth. Amelia stopped and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. 'I think I ran the wrong way.' She spun around, eyes wide with fright when she heard a branch snap over to her left nearby... 

~ ~ ~ (^_^ quote a friend 'happy, fun' squigglies)

'That actually hurt, I think I passed out' though Xellos as pushed the tree branches off of him (the TL-Dra knocked down the tree he was currently in). 'That was certainly a strong beast, where did the others go?' Standing up he brushed himself off and looked around. Seeing a trial that even Gourry couldn't miss, Xellos followed it til he came to the canyon. 

Looking over the gorge he frowned 'Great, I can't levitate or teleport, I see a fire over there too.' Walking along the gorge until he wasn't as close to the fire he stopped. 'There's no other way' he thought as he ran towards the canyon. He then leaped high into the air, unfurled his wings a little, and glided to the other side. 

He quickly ran back to where the group was camping. Hiding in the shadows he listened to their conversation.

"We can't go into the forest at night, our light would attract more creatures. We'd never get far enough to find her. We have to believe Amelia can take care of herself until morning. Then we'll search for her." Lina sadly said.

Zelgadis was pacing the campsite, and Filia was drinking tea nervously.

"I know you're right but..." Zelgadis began.

'Amelia's in the forest? After all she's done for me the least I can do is help her. It was sort of my fault, she did stay up late last night because of me... Wait! Why should this matter to me, if Amelia is alone in that forest.' Xellos let out a small sigh 'I don't understand why, but I know I can't leave her in there.' Xellos turned and left the group and headed back towards the canyon.

~^~^~ (change of squigglies)

Amelia was totally exhausted as she sat down on a log. She had been tired before but she could barely stay awake now. She had luckily been able to run away from all the creatures she had encountered in the forest. 

It was getting cold, Amelia started to shiver. 'I can't go to sleep now...' She heard a rustle behind her. 'No! Not another scary creature' she thought as she scrambled to stand up. A wolf-like creature(three tails, large shoulder blades, very pointy ears, stood on two long back legs) emerged from the foliage at a dead run for her. Screaming Amelia ran, doing the best she could to avoid it. 

She almost lost the wolf-thing until she came to a steep drop. Turning around she realized she couldn't run to either side. As the wolf-thing leapt at her, she shielded her face with her arms and franticly thought 'No one's here to help or save me this time.' The wolf-thing impacted Amelia, she felt a searing pain lance through her side as she and the wolf-thing started to fall. She hit a rock on the way down and lost consciousness, just as she lost hope. 

~ ~ ~ (yes, I know my scenes are really hopping around)

Xellos was using his Mazuko speed to quickly travel through the trees. He was looking for any sign of Amelia(he can see in the dark). He then heard a faint scream and tasted a strong fear. Xellos was surprised for a moment, the fear didn't taste right to him. He screeched to a halt and headed towards where he heard the scream.

He felt the fear to diminish some, only to intensify a moment later. Xellos ran faster, he sensed the fear grow stronger, mixed with despair and then it was gone in a moment. He stopped and jumped to the ground. He continued to run until he came to the steep drop. Looking down he saw Amelia.

Xellos quickly leapt down. He approached Amelia and opened his eyes at what he saw. She had a deep gash in her side, it was bleeding heavily. She had another wound on her head that wasn't to deep, and a lot of bruises. She was breathing shallowly, she had landed on the wolf-thing which broke her fall, a little.

'I can't do healing magic, I need to get her back to Lina and the others.' Xellos thought as he gently picked up Amelia. He started to headed back towards the canyon at a quick walk. Xellos then noticed he could see his breath. 'She should be shivering now.' He stopped and took off his cloak/cape and wrapped it around Amelia. After a second thought he then folded his wings around Amelia as best he could while carrying her.

Amelia didn't know where she was. All she knew was that she was tired, and she couldn't move even if she wanted to, it hurt to just be still. She vaguely knew she was being carried. And she felt a familiar feeling of warmth and protection she almost reconized, but not quite. 

Xellos came to the canyon 'I hope the others don't see me like this' he thought as he speed up. Like last time, Xellos started to leap over the canyon, however, this time though he fully extended his wings and flew or attempted to. 'I really should learn how to fly with these things' Xellos thought as he managed to land on the other side (it wasn't a very graceful landing).

Walking over to the campsite he halted before they could see him and took a deep breath. "I just happened to be in the area and look who I found" Xellos cheerily commented as he walked partially into the light.

"Amelia!" everyone shouted (except Gourry he was sleeping) as they rushed over to him. Zelgadis took Amelia from Xellos and walked back towards the fire.

Amelia in her near unconscious state felt herself being transferred. She didn't feel comfortable any longer and not as warm either. 

Zelgadis laid Amelia down, took off Xellos's cloak/cape, and gasped as he saw Amelia's injuries. "We need to cast recovery now!" Filia, Lina, and Zelgadis gathered around Amelia and began several recovery spells. They didn't notice Xellos back away slowly (without turning his back towards them) into the shadows. 

"Filia we should go gather some more wood" Lina said. "I can't do any better with my recovery magic. Gourry get up!" Lina said as she attempted to awaken Gourry.

"Zelgadis can you look after Amelia while we gather wood?" Filia asked as she walked after Lina and Gourry. 

Lina then quietly said "Well, Amelia will finally get a chance with Zel I think he just realized how important she is to him now." Filia agreed.

~*~*~(a second change of squigglies)

Amelia groaned as she sat up with a confused and dazed look on her face.

"Amelia are you ok? How do you feel?" Zelgadis asked from behind her.

"O-ok I guess" Amelia shakily replied looking around.

"We were all very worried about you" Zelgadis said as he sat next to her.

"Last thing I remember was..." Amelia began shaking her head.

"Don't worry you're safe now" Zelgadis said. 'Especially from those creatures or a certain mazuko' he mentally added.

What both of them didn't realize was that they had an audience. Lina and Filia watched from bushes, being as quiet as they could. Xellos was hidden in the shadows a small distance away from them. 

Amelia wondered 'Who saved me? (she didn't notice the cloak/cape she was sitting on) Did Mr. Zelgadis save me?' She looked questioningly at Zelgadis.

"Amelia I-I was very worried about you." Zelgadis looked nervous. "I learned how much you meant to me" he then pulled her into a fierce hug. "I think I love you" he whispered.

Amelia froze as she was pulled into the embrace. She felt the roughness of Zelgadis's skin as thoughts ran through her mind 'Mr. Zelgadis loves me?! I should be crying with joy...but I'm not. Don't I love Mr. Zelgadis?' The strong admiration for him was still there, but she no longer had the warm fuzzy love feeling she realized.

'I should of known this was going to happen, she has loved him for as long as I've known her. This shouldn't bother me, but it does.' Xellos turned and walked away from the camp. 

'I don't love him' she realized. Snapping out of her daze and resolving her will she knew what she had to do. "Mr. Zelgadis," Amelia began timidly "I'm sorry, but I don't love you anymore. A month ago I would've been the happiest girl if you told me this, but not anymore." Amelia looked at Zelgadis, she saw the hurt and pain written on his face clearly as he stood up. "Mr. Zelgadis..." Amelia began. 

"I'll be back" he said as he walked out of the camp.

Amelia just stared after him and sighed. Putting her hand down she felt the cloak/cape. Picking it up she thought 'How did this get here?' She remembered being carried, and that feeling she had only felt once before. 'Wait, Mr. Zelgadis never did tell me how I got here. Xellos must of saved me!' she realized as she picked a feather off of the cloak/cape and faintly smiled. 'He didn't have to but he did.' 

~ ~ ~(what can I say, except hail squigglies!)

Zelgadis walked over to a nearby small clearing and waited a while(around 15 minutes). Lina, Filia, and Gourry came in.

"Amelia's not acting like herself" Zelgadis said. "I don't know if it is her injuries or something else..."

"It started when Xellos was sick..." mused Lina.

"Mabye it was an act to put her under a spell" Filia said. "We never do know what Xellos up to. As a princess of Sailune, Amelia could be useful to his master."

"Let's find Xellos and get some information" Lina said.

"Let's" Zelgadis agreed, with a hidden edge in his voice none of the others noticed.

~ ~ ~(squigglies rock!)

Xellos sat near the canyon's edge looking up at the sky. 'What's wrong with me?' he thought as he shook his head. 'Why am I bothered so much by Zelgadis being with Amelia, it's never bothered me before...why now?'

'I've never been like this before" as single tear rolled down his face. Reaching up and touching it he thought 'A tear? I... Wait what's that?' Xellos stared in the direction where he sensed hostile emotions, very strong hostile emotions. Standing up he quickly wiped away the tear.

"_Diamond Ra_!" a voice shouted from the distance.

Xellos only had time to open his eyes in shock as six white lines appeared around him forming a white magic star(the holy one). When they connected a bright white light shone causing Xellos to close his eyes. When he could see again he quickly walked over to the edge, looking at the lines. 'This shouldn't be able to hold me' he thought as he held his hand forward. White electric power flashed from where he had tried to put his hand through, Xellos hissed as he pulled back his hand. 'That hurt' he thought as he shook his hand. 'If I was at full strength I'd be able to break out of this easily.'

Glancing back out in the direction from where the negative emotions were coming from and seeing who was causing them Xellos knew he was in trouble. Swallowing hard, opening his eyes, and taking a step back he thought 'This can't be good...' as the figures walked closer.

~ ~ ~(^.^; oh dear...)

Amelia sat holding Xellos's cloak/cape in one arm as she wistfully stared at the feather in her hand.

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for some one..."

Amelia looked at the person who had managed to sneak into camp without her hearing. "W-who are you looking for Miss?" asked a startled Amelia.

"I believe you're holding his cloak/cape {yes I know I can't decide chose one}.

"You're looking for Xellos? I don't know where he is, I'm sorry. Why are you looking for him mabye I can help." Amelia looked at the tall blonde woman.

"He didn't contact me like he was suppose to, I've come to make sure he's doing his job."

"Wait that means you're Zellas Metallium!" Amelia gasped staring at Zellas.

"Yeah, so?" Zellas answered.

"Well... ummm... ahhh... nothing" Amelia poked her fingers together and sweat-dropped. 

Zellas growled as she stood up looking down near the canyon "Excuse me."

"Wait Ms. Metallium!" Amelia said.

"I've never been called that before" Zellas commented as she turned around and looked at Amelia.

"Are you going to punish him?" Amelia asked meekly.

"Depends, why?"

"He was very sick recently, it wasn't his fault" Amelia said.

Zellas looked thoughtful then shrugged "Why should that make a difference?" She then walked over to Amelia and looked at her as she sat down next to her.

"I think he can't use magic, I noticed he didn't teleport, or use any magic, like he normally does. And the best way to keep contact over long distance is with magic. " 

"You're very observant little girl" Zellas laughed. "Alright I won't punish him then." 

"Excuse me again Ms. Metallium, but I have a question or two."

Zellas seemed even more amused "What is it little girl?"

"One that's been bothering me is how can Xellos's wings be related to his true form? I can't figure it out."

Zellas blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing "Xellos must have a high opinion of you to tell you that. If he trusts you so will I." Still chuckling Zellas reached into a pouch and pulled out a mirror. It was black and gold yin-yang design on the back. She seemed to concentrate for a moment then whispered "Xellos." Then as she handed the mirror to Amelia, she said "See for yourself, I think you can figure it out now." 

"Thank you." Amelia took the mirror and looked at it. In the mirror it showed a black whirlwind. She blinked and then said "Now I get it! His wings create wind while his true form is like the wind." Then it sunk in what she was actually looking at and she said in an awed voice "That's his true form?" 

"Most of the time, yes." Receiving a questioning glance from Amelia she continued. "When he fights he looks more like a cone." She waved her hand over the mirror. It then showed a black cone.

{At the end of Next he was a whirlwind, any other time he was a cone, but that was only during fights. I think it is a defense mechanism to be a cone, like a shield, but this is my opinion.} 

~ ~ ~(ne, squiggles?)

Xellos dodged a Elmekia Lance. 'I wish I had more space to dodge these, or at least my magic for a defense...' He glanced outside at Lina, Filia, and Zelgadis waiting for the next attack.

"Hold still" Zelgadis growled. "_Elmekia Flame_!"

~ ~ ~(...I sorry I can't say anything now)

Amelia handed the mirror back. "I'll understand if you don't want to answer my next question, but why do you mazukos want to destroy the world and return it to chaos?"

Zellas raised an eyebrow at that. "If I tell you, you won't tell anyone and you will owe me a favor."

"I can't agree to any favor, I'd have to hear it first" Amelia sighed.

"Don't worry it's nothing unreasonable. But, if you feel you can't grant me the favor under any circumstances, I'll think of another till we find one we both agree on." Zellas paused and saw Amelia nod. "The world needs balance. Darkness without light cannot be seen, order needs chaos to define itself both are essential to live. The best way to keep this balance is to have two opposing sides. Dragons bring light and order, humans are divided between the sides choosing what they will, and we mazukos bring darkness and chaos. We don't necessarily want to destroy the world, we just need to keep things unpredictable." 

Amelia was quiet this whole time as Zellas talked. "That's why you train yourselves to feed off of negative emotions. To make it easier in creating chaos, if you have to feed off it." She looked up "Dragons choose light and mazukos choose darkness to keep the balance. I have one last question, I know mazukos have emotions, but" Amelia paused, turned red and continued "can they love?" 

"Yes, we can. After all if dragons can hate, the other side of the coin is love, is it not? Generally we don't like to tell people, we have to keep a reputation you know. It makes things much easier this way if people already fear us." Zellas looked down near the canyon and frowned again.

A second later a bright light drew Amelia's attention away from the conversation. They both looked at the column of white and blue flames, and they both heard a scream.

"What is..." Amelia recognized the scream. "No they wouldn't!" Amelia got up and started to sprint down to the distant area.

Zellas looked after Amelia for a moment, then looked at the cloak/cape. 'I really should find a better way to track my servants.'

Author's Notes: Well the last part may be the shortest, but I'll work on it. ^_^ (I'm proud how short this AN is.)


	4. The Chapter Where Everyone Gets Together...

Disclaimer: Look at a previous chapter, I can't write these anymore... I have muses but they live in my other fics.

Author's Notes: I'll tell you what writer's block, I mean a lot of writer's block *gets crushed by the writer's block*, bad evil school work, and thinking college makes it very hard to write fics *throws writer's block off*. Well this is the shortest part out of the whole story. Sorry it's not as long as the others, and for taking so long. It leaves right where the last chapter ended. I hope you like it...

~ ~ ~ (...I'm not going to give anything away)

Zelgadis finally lost his temper. 'Xellos has been able to dodge everything, but he won't dodge this' Zelgadis stood up straight. "_Ra Tilt_!" Zelgadis shouted.

Xellos could only open his eyes before the white and blue flames completely engulfed him. He knew he screamed as the Ra Tilt burned through his astral form. 

Then spell faded away. Xellos fell to his knees and leaned forward, arms wrapped around him (think doubled over in pain). Breathing heavily, Xellos then looked up at his attackers.

"I can't hold this barrier much longer" Filia said as she concentrated on her spell.

"Almost done, ready Zel?" Lina said as she prepared a spell.

"Yes" Zelgadis replied, glaring at Xellos. 

"_Elmekia Lance_!" they both shouted as Filia lowered the barrier.

'I still haven't recovered from that Ra Tilt yet!' Xellos thought as he fearfully looked at the incoming Elmekia Lances, and paled. One hit him in the left shoulder and the other in his right side. Xellos cried out as he felt each one pierce through his astral self. And without the barrier the twin blasts sent him sailing backwards into the air.

Xellos cried out again as he crashed into the large rock that had luckily saved him from going into the canyon. When Xellos had crashed into the rock not only did it crack from the impact along with the loud sound it made. A second softer cracking sound was heard as Xellos felt bones break.

Xellos groaned as he slid down to the ground, his broken wings no longer folded or hidden. He then wearily looked up at the others as some of his essence trickled out of his mouth. 'I can barely move... so hard to stay awake...' {I mean black blood type stuff for his essence.} 

Zelgadis walked forward towards him drawing his sword.

"Wait Zel, he's had enough," Lina called out to him. "I think we may have over did it," she added softly to herself. 

"Lina, the only way to break a mazoku's curse is to destroy the one who cast it" Zelgadis growled as he closed the gap between him and Xellos. "_Astral Vine_!" Zelgadis's sword glowed a deep red as he prepared to swing it in a downward arc.

Xellos sighed and bent his head forward. 'I'm not going to be able to dodge this...' He then tightly closed his eyes and clenched his teeth in anticipation of the incoming attack.

Amelia was running as fast as she could. She saw Filia and Lina standing a small distance away, Xellos injured and leaning against the rock base, and Zelgadis about to swing his enchanted sword. 'No they can't do this!' she franticly thought. As she passed Lina and Filia she shouted out the first thing she thought about... 

Xellos heard someone shout "Nooooo!!!" then felt someone slam into him from his right side, knocking him over. Opening his eyes he was surprised when he saw Amelia next to him, before he passed out into semi-unconsciousness. (He can hear what's going on, but really can't do anything about it.)

"Amelia! I what are you doing! I could have killed you!" Zelgadis said staring at his silver sword, now dripping with red blood in shock and horror.

Amelia sat up holding her right arm, which had a medium sized gash in it. She glared up at the others "What were you doing?!"

"Trying to save you from that mazuko! He put you under a spell or curse of some type!" Zelgadis furiously replied pointing at Xellos.

"No he didn't!" she answered back. 

"Yes he did, otherwise you wouldn't have acted like you did earlier!" Zelgadis shouted.

Amelia was silent for a minute as she looked at him. "Zelgadis, I did love you for a couple years, but you never told me how you felt. I still think of you as a dear friend and I always will. Just because I don't love you, don't blame it Xellos." she said in a gentle but firm voice.

"Amelia it's just been that you have been acting differently lately, especially towards Xellos." Lina said as she walked up and knelt by Amelia, putting her hand on Amelia's shoulder. "We were worried."

"I'm fine, Miss Lina, really." Amelia quietly said.

Zelgadis glared at Xellos then looked at Amelia. "Amelia, doesn't this go against all you were taught? Aren't you a shrine maiden? He's a mazuko, a demon, a monster."

"What is wrong for me treating Xellos like a person." Amelia replied standing up. "And I know what you're going to say next. I've learned a lot in the past couple of days though, I can't tell you anything I learned. It changed my view on the world, I still believe in justice, but I..." Amelia trailed off and sighed.

Zelgadis sighed, then started walking back to camp. A defeated aura radiated from him.

Filia scurried after Zelgadis. "I'm sure everything will be alright."

"…" was Zelgadis's reply. Looking at Filia, he was surprised to see concern and warmth shining in her eyes. 

"Care for some tea?" Filia asked as she whipped out her tea set onto a table-like rock. 'Why do I always ask him, he never says yes unless anyone else is there.'

"…Sure." Zelgadis sat down.

~ ~ ~ (Oooh Zel and Filia ^_^)

"Are you sure you don't want to camp with us tonight?" Lina asked again.

"Yea. I won't be to far away." Amelia said throwing a log onto the fire. "I don't want to hurt Mr. Zelgadis. He needs time to think." Amelia sat down and looked over towards the unconscious Xellos.

"Ok, come on Gourry." Lina turned and walked away.

Walking back to camp Lina thought out loud. "Who would of thought those two?"

"Lina I guess it's just you and me tonight." Gourry said as he stretched.

"What about Zel and Filia?" Lina looked up at him.

"They're over there." Gourry pointed over to a small campfire that illuminated Filia and Zelgadis having tea.

Lina blinked and looked at the two conversing people. Filia was blushing and Zelgadis seemed relaxed. "You know, Gourry I think you're right. Let's go."

They walked back to camp. 

~ ~ ~ (Oi! Warning: Severe fluff/sappy/mush alert)

Groan. Xellos curled up and rolled over. He shouldn't have done that.

"Ow!" Xellos quickly sat up wincing at his wounds. 

"You should try to be still Xellos." 

"!!!" Xellos quickly spun around surprised, then he winced again.

"Xellos, calm down, yes you are safe." Amelia sat down on the far end of the log. "I would have bandaged or cast a recovery but that wouldn't have helped you. How are you feeling?" Amelia blinked at the swirling blackness that was still there, Xellos had rapidly recovered, even when unconscious.

Xellos followed her gaze. "This has almost healed already."

"But how are you feeling?" Amelia shuffled a bit closer.

"How am I feeling?" Xellos replied slowly. "I really don't know. I can't describe it."

Amelia inched a bit closer. "Can you try to?"

"Well, I..." Xellos looked at Amelia confused. "I..."

"Do you like me?" Amelia inched closer.

"Yes." Xellos leaned away from her a little.

"Really like me?" Amelia had almost reached Xellos.

"Yes." Xellos looked nervously away.

Amelia took note of Xellos's reaction. "Your not used to admitting your feelings are you?"

"..."

'There was only one way to remedy this.' Amelia leaned even closer and wrapped her arms around him, carefully avoiding his wounds. She felt him stiffen.

"Amelia..."

"Shhh..." Amelia closed her eyes. "I won't hurt you."

Hesitantly, unsure, and perhaps afraid, Xellos returned the embrace. And then on a second thought placed one wing over Amelia as well.

'Maybe someday soon he will open up more, and not be afraid.' Amelia thought. 

~ ~ ~ (^o^ Heya hiya squigglies)

Zelas watched all that happened from the hilltop, and smiled. 'It's about time.'

~-~-~ (The End)

Author's Notes: Yay, it's done! Sorry it took so long by the way. Who would've thought it would be this long *cougharound41pagescough*? Not me, and I never thought anyone would really like it either. And it was soooo hard writing something where Xellos was hurt (Wah! I couldn't do it for the longest time). And don't flame me for the way I made Zel act, (I mean I like Zel, he's so Zel) but he seems like the jealous type, but he did get Filia. ~_^


End file.
